To Brimfield, Massachusetts

So, do you remember the previous stages, when I mentioned how uneventful they were? And the last stage, when I had a bad feeling about the day? Well, this stage had as much drama as the rest of the stages combined! I was even considering calling this stage, "Murphy's Stage" in honor of all the things that went awry.

Instead of heading straight back out onto the road the day after getting in to Lakeville, I took a day to rest up and visit with my extended family. This was really fun and satisfying. I hadn't seen my grandparents in a year, so it was super to see them. Even with this extra day, I neglected to plan a route and neglected to tune up my bike, so I set off Saturday, August 21, with very little idea of my route. The mechanisms for changing the gears were giving me much trouble the entire way, often changing gears without being asked to. Before I left, I did check the weather forecast and noticed huge thunderstorms predicted for the day in the areas I planned to traverse. But, I had no second thoughts about going; I was determined to make it home for the next day.

Gray skies that looked mildly ominous greeted me every time I looked up, but despite several stops in the first few towns the weather picture didn't seem to be changing. I finally found someone at a gas station with a good street map of Taunton, MA allowing me to pick a route to stick to for a bit. Up until then I had be mainly following my sense of direction North and West. From Taunton I went westwards and got to Attleboro, MA, where I met my first disaster.

I was running out of sureness of my route anyway, but I certainly wasn't happy when I hit a pothole hard and seconds later heard my back tire go flat. A friendly dude saw me calmly preparing to fix the flat, and mentioned that there was a good bike shop just down the road if I needed it. I thanked him and changed the tube. I reinstalled the tube in the tire, inflated it fully and was just about to ride away when I realized that the new tube was sticking out of a hole in the sidewall of the tire--not good. I immediately deflated the tube most of the way, and decided I needed the bike shop after all.

When I reached Union Cycles, I had it in my noggin that I would simply mickey-mouse a fix for the tire I had. The man who was helping me suggested business cards and duct tape. After a few minutes I had a patch assembled, and I installed a new tube, as the one I had just put in to fix the flat already had a leak. But, luck was not on my side that day, and the patch clearly was not going to work. I stuffed down my urge to try a different patching scheme, and bought a new tire. On the up side, they had in stock a tire that Dan Buttrick recommended highly to me before I started the tour: the Armadillo made by Specialized. I would have bought two of these upon getting the advice, but my bike shops didn't carry them and told me Continental "Gators" were just as good. Well, I don't know how long the Armadillo will hold up, but the Gator held up for almost 650 miles with only one other flat.

Next, I asked about the best route to take to get through Rhode Island safely. Rick, the manager or owner, kindly took several minutes to go over a map he had and even made me a photocopy! He explained just about all he knew of the area, and gave me a great sense of what was to come. The map made the most difference for me, though, because I didn't really pick a route until I came to intersections that mattered.

The tire situation resolved and a route mapped out, I was out the door when I realized I had forgotten about my shifting problems. I asked the bike mechanic to see if there was anything to be done for my shifting (the front). He cleaned it up a good deal, but said it may start working soon or be kaput. I thanked him and the bike shop profusely, as they really had helped me, and then got back on my bike. I looked at the time, and realized I had spent about 1.5 hours in the shop! I looked again at the sky, and it still seemed ominous, but not immediately threatening.

By this point, I was hungry, tired, dishearted by the troubles, and although I had a map and a route, I was pretty dispirited when my shifting continued to misfire. I began to wonder if I were really going to make it to my destination at all. It was already 12:30 P.M. and I had only ridden 24 miles!

Trying to fight back doubt and fear, I pushed onwards. It was a mental boost to make it into Rhode Island on Route 123, and things were starting to get calmer in my head. Then, just as I pulled up to a red stoplight at the junction of Rtes. 123 and 246 in Lincoln, RI, something really bad happened.

Luckily, the bad thing didn't happen to me. About 25 feet in front of me, in the middle of the intersection, a pick-up and a car collided pretty seriously. Thankfully all four people in the autos were able to get out and walk to the side of the road, but at least three were taken to the hospital in ambulances. It was very emotional for me, and though there was nothing for me to do (others already had cell phones out), I stayed until the police arrived so I could give them a statement. I was fairly shaken up by it all, though, and I don't know if I could have moved on right away anyway. Even waiting the while that I did, it was still several miles before I got the adrenaline mostly out of my system and the crash mostly out of my thoughts.

The rest of the way through Rhode Island felt slow but steady as the sky remained gray. I was thankful not to have been involved in any accident like that, and although it kept popping up once in a while, I was able to put it behind me. I had to consult the map several times after Route 123 ended, but things were going well--until I got to Pascoag, RI. I turned a corner into Pascoag center, and suddenly the sky was no longer gray. Black sky overhead but still no rain, I stopped at the general store. As I was filling my bike bottles with new fluids, the sky opened up, and the rain began to spill out. I stepped back into the store, and ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich while the storm blew ferociously and dropped very heavy rain on the streets. But soon my sandwich was finished, the rain had slackened, and my stubborn streak kicked in, so I set out in the rain.

With the rain, the temperature had dropped noticeably, and I realized stopping on the side of the road was going to be less and less of an option. I was moderately worried about the occasional lightning in the sky, but it didn't seem to be immediately overhead, so I stopped one more time in a bit of shelter and then moved on. Unfortunately, while I was stopped, I accidently erased the count of the total miles on my tour from my bike computer. This was not a deep blow to my psyche, but I was made even less happy.

Climbing hills in the rain is not much fun, but shooting down hills into heavy cold rain is even less fun. It hurts, and it chills one--at least when one is not wearing a wind or rain shell and wearing only short sleeves on both top and bottom. Luckily, it wasn't too cold for me as long as I kept generating body heat, and I began climbing one of the final hills on my route across Rhode Island.

Then, unexpectedly, something else went awry. Apparently the water and chill were too much for my bike computer to handle, and it stopped working. Now I continued on without my main source of distraction. Playing little math games in my head with the numbers from the computer and tracking my speed gives me many hours of good biking. Now I was without that, despite my efforts to fix the darn thing. But I got to the peak of Badger Mountain (elevation 734 ft.), and sped down the backside, ending up in Connecticut!

Being in Connecticut meant that I had now ridden in all six New England states on the tour! I even got a mental boost as my computer unexpectedly started working again! Elated, I picked a direction and kept riding. Quickly realizing I was way off the major roads, I started to worry again. I now was off the great map from Rick at Union Cycles. I had little idea even if I were still headed West. It was still raining. Suddenly, I noticed a man standing in his open garage, and I decided I needed to ask for directions, or a least have a dry spot to open my map. Dripping wet, I turned into his driveway and met John.

John ended up giving me fabulous directions. I am so thankful to him for giving me temporary shelter, a friendly conversation, and a route to head back out on. Not too long after leaving John's, I got back onto numbered routes, and soon after that I was on Route 131 headed North towards Massachusetts! Even better than reaching Connecticut was reaching my home state, and now I knew I could make it, even if it took me a while. The rain had stopped as well, and things were clearing up. It wasn't at all warm, but I just kept riding.

Finally reaching Southbridge, I knew I was getting close. I noticed a sign that said, "Southbridge, Massachusetts, the eye of the Commonwealth." Does anybody know why they call themselves that? It seems kind of ridiculous to me. A couple of towns later, I reached my destination: Family Green Campground in Brimfield, MA. Tired but happy, I signed in for the night, and set up camp. I had simply intended to a few power bars into dinner, but a neighboring camper generously offered leftovers to me: two warm meatball grinders with sauteed onions and peppers!! Yum!

That night I hung out with kids who were absolutely adorable, and they delighted in my presence, and then I slept.

Total stage distance:  ~95 miles
Total stage time:  11 hours
Net elvation change:  +???

On to Stage 13: Home to Northampton, Massachusetts

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